Draft-gear.



' VLHERiviANfJe. PRIEBEVOEBBLUE ISLANnILLINoIs. 1

@DRAFT-GEAR.' '1- To alp/Z whom z't zag/Concern I Be 'it known 'that I.HERIN C. Pai'ieer,I

'citizenof'the United States, .residing at `Bluelslaud. in the countyof. Cook `and 'State voflllinois.` have 'invented a certain fand usefulImprovement in ,Draft- `'I"Grearse'of which" the following. is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description, reference', being. had 4to theaccompanying drawings, .forming a 'part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to draft gears forv .railway vehicles and has forits general obi `ject the. employment,l of upright springs upon theoutersides of the center sills which are vincluded, in the construction ofmotion resisting mechanism. i

By means of my invention two .distinct springs orsets of springs may beemployed i [in the l construction fof .a gear, the center 20.

gsprilngs, advantages being [obtained i which `sills being preferablydisposed between these ,dare not attendant ,upon the lemployment ofco-arialzf"J springs.1 By

springsin upright position the centei sills employing coiled need not'beperforated as employ mechanisnr whereby the springs are enabled toperform their function without requiring the entry thereof, or partsLengaging the same, within the spacing between the center sills. Iamalso enabled to employ any suitable length of springs w-ithoutincreas- Ying-the extent to which they are horizontally projected whereby springsof` large capacity may be'selected without danger of f having theminterfere with other lelements of the gear structure.

The springs of the gear of may, -if desired, lbey included in the forma-'tion of a friction draft gear as will be clearly understood byreference to the accompanying drawing showing the preferredembodimentythereof when employed in av friction draft gear and in whichdrawing- Figure 1 is a plan view of .a draft gear` applicati@ 'aiediviay2o, 19.1'5. serial ivo. '29,28'3.

my invention sppiiition ofletters,flatteur4 l. 'l Pfntd 19,16

j gear, includes aniouter"triangular friction 1 block 4 constituting anvouter follower which 'is engaged by the inner end of thlelc'ouplershank and an inner triangular lfriction block A 5 constituting an innerfollower which is engaged bythe innerend ofthe yoke The l Outer followeror friction block -l is'limited in its outward movement b v cheek plates6, while thevinner follower or frictionblock 5is limited in its inwardmovement byfcheek plates 7 these' cheek plates being 'mounted upon theinner faces of `center sills` S, 9 between whichthe friction"blocksaredisposed. yAn upper triangular friction block 1Q engages the ruppersides of the'friction blocks 4 land 5, whilesymmetricallylarrangedtriangular friction blocks 11 and 12 (togetherconstituting anrv bperative [equivalent vof the frictionblocklO) engagethe lower sides of thefriction blocks y4: ande, the innerand opposed`vertical facesof the blocks 11 and 12 `being recessed at the lowerportions of these blocks toatlord'aspace which is suficlientto receivethe lower side of the yoke 3 and to permitthe vblocks 11 and 12 tobecome lowered in the operation of the gear. Vhen this construction isadopted the remaining friction blocks 4, 5 and'lOfarenot raised, in theoperation of the gear, the top yside of the yoke preventing upwardmovement.:,thereof. The friction blocks 4; rand 5, though themselvesrising and l falling in the operation of the gear, prevent the descentvof the block 10. The blocksll and12 rest upon aspanner 13 whichunderlies all of the friction blocks and extends .laterally of thecenter sills 8, v9 and beneath the lower flanges' thereof, the outerends of the Spanner being cooperatively related with thetwin sets ofsprings 14, l5, each set being shown in the form of twocoiled springsone within the bore of the other. Each :et of springs is provided withan upj` cap 16 and a lower cap 17, the lower cap resting, at one side,upon the top of theloWer flange of the adjacent center sill, theopposite side of the cap 17 resting upon a bracket 18 which is obliquelyextended to the adjacent center sill to which the bracket is anchored atits upper end. Bolts 19 pass through the.

outer ends of theV motion transmitting spanner 13 -and -through thebores of the inner springs and the upper caps 16, the heads of the boltsunderlying the motion transmitting element13 while the nuts of the boltsoverlie the upper caps 16.

ico

. ments and whenever either When the coupler is subjected to asufficient pushing strain the inner follower or friction block 5 will bemoved downwardly but not horizontally owing to its engagement with thelnner' cheek plates 7 while the outer follower or friction block 4 willmove in- 'wardly as well as downwardly, the consequence being that thefriction elements 11 and l2 will be lowered against the pressureupwardly exerted upon the Spanner 13 by the sets of springs.Conversely,V when there lis sufficientpull upon the coupler the outerlfollower or friction block l will be moved downwardly but nothorizontallyv owing to its engagement with the outer cheek plates 6,while the inner follower or friction block 5 will move outwardly as wellas downwardly, the consequence being that the fric- Y y tion elements l1and l2 will be lowered agalnst the pressure -upwardly exerted upon theSpanner 13. As theinvention is'embodied in a friction draft gear thefollowers' curring between the 'friction elements.

Each of the friction elements l1 and is desirabliy provided .withdownsetting` hooks y20 between which the Spanner 13 is disposed, thesehooks being employed to insure themaintenance of the assembly of theSpanner and friction blocks 1l and 12,- an

arrangement which is permitted because the Spanner together with,1the-sets 'of springs preferably do not move longitudinally of the gearbut are desirably limited to upright movement and action, a: resultwhich is possible because 4the spring mechanism is disu posed laterallyof the yhorizontal path of movement of the followers and center sills ybetween which the followers are disposed.

IVhile I prefer to employ followers d and 5 that perform two functions,one the production of friction and th other the transmission of motionbetween the springs and the coupler, yet I do not wish to be limited toaconstruction in which these followers operate to produce opera'tivefriction.

While I have herein shown and partlcularly described the preferredembodiment of myinvention I do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction shown as changes may readily be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, but Having thus described myinvention I claim as new'and desire to-secure b v Letters Patent thefollowing:-

1. draft gen1-including a coupler; outer and inner followers; sillsbetween which the followers are disposed; upright springs between.whichy'the sills are-located; and mo tion transferring lmechanismintervening between the followers and the springs and includingaISpanner underlying the sills and proj ecting laterally thereof andwhichl spanner- :1s pressed upwardly by the springs.

follower; sills between which the follower. is

. disposed; upright springs between which the sills are located; andmotion transferring.

mechanism intervening between the follower and thesprings and includinga Spanner underlying the' sills and projecting laterally thereof andwhich Spanner is pressed upwardly by the springs.

3. A friction draft gear including a coupler; outer and inner followers;sills between which the followers are disposed; upright springs between.which the sills are located; and friction "producing motiontransferring mechanism intervening between 'the followers and thesprings and including a Spanner underlying the sills and projectinglaterally thereof and which spanner is pressed upwardly by. thesprings'.

4. A friction draft gear including a coupler; a follower; sills betweenwhich the follower is disp'osed; upright springs between which the'sills are located; and fric' tion-producing motion transferring mecha;ynism intervening between the follower and the springs and including aSpanner underlying the'sills and projecting laterally thereof and whichSpanner is pressed upwardly by the springs.

, VIn witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe in v name this seventeenth'clay of May, A. D.

HERMAN C. PRIEBE.

Witnesses G., L. Cnaoo, E. L. IVNTTE.

2. A' draft gear including' a coupler; a

